1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to novelty items and more particularly to novelty items simulating an imaginary pet.
2. Background Art
A novelty item exists in the prior art, such as is shown in Ellis U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,296 issued Mar. 11, 1975, in which a rigid, simulated leash supporting a simulated harness at one end is held and manually controlled at the opposite end by a user to create the impression that an invisible or imaginary dog, or some other animal, is on the leash. Persons having a degree of imagination and aptitude can, by controlling the held end of the rigid leash, simulate walking the imaginary pet, having the imaginary pet jumping, moving from side to side, or attempting to pull away from the person. However, notwithstanding such users' imagination and aptitude, it is desirable to be able to otherwise create the impression that an invisible animal is actually contained within the harness.
It is long been known in the toy and novelty art that sounds may be created within a doll, simulated animal, or other character, either mechanically or electronically, to create an impression, by appropriate sounds, of crying, calling for a parent, barking, mooing, screaming or the like. An example of the use of an electronic sound producing device within a toy or novelty item is shown in Hyman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,515 which issued May 31, 1994. That patent discloses a neck and head portion of a hobby horse attached to a user's waist by a belt. A sound producing circuit, including a battery power system, a speaker and a sound synthesizing circuit coupled to various switches for providing a plurality of sound outputs, is contained within and completely obscured by the head and neck of the hobby horse. Thus, it appears that the sounds produced by the circuit emanate from within the hobby horse. There remains, however, a need for a novelty item which uses sound for enhancing the illusion created by the novelty item where the bulk of a doll, animal or character is not available to obscure the mechanism.